I didn’t commit to anything, but I think putting my intention out there in the world helps create a space where the thought can materialize. In effect, saying I want to write more often, as oppose to promising I will write everyday, becomes a commitment but without the burden of accountability.

In my mind, I have this desire to write but I’m not pressured to do it on specific days or with regularity. But the desire is there and it’s like keeping a mental note to write when the opportunity presents itself. Surprisingly, I find that there indeed are opportunities – small pockets of time that I can devout to writing a post for this blog. Maybe I wasn’t really looking before or I just couldn’t distinguish a time to write from a time to do other things. And I always end up doing other things when I should be writing instead. (No, I’m not referring to my end-of-the-day movie indulgence.)

So if the problem of finding time to keep the blog updated is somewhat solved, let’s shine a light on another one: the actual process of writing itself.

I’m not a prolific writer let alone a good writer. In fact, I’ don’t even consider myself a writer. I’m a blogger and there is a big difference. For one, blogger can publish anything – grammatical errors, typographical errors, or just plain poor sentence constructions and all. No one will hold a blogger to a certain standard because there really is no standard when it comes to blogging. There’s just traffic, as far as we’re concerned, hehe. But kidding aside, unless the blog belongs to a news agency or an educational institution, having poorly written posts won’t ruin the blog or the blogger’s career. The worst that can happen is being called out in the comments section, or in really extreme cases of bad grammar, being shared on social media and going viral, which is actually a better scenario because it’s free publicity. Again, traffic.

So no, bloggers are not always writers. But writers can be bloggers. And in some occasions, a blogger like me can aspire to write like a proper writer. Specifically, I want to be a creative writer. But the problem is how to do it and how to do it with the amount of time I have to write. When I said I’m not a prolific writer, I mean I can’t write fast. It would take me at least half a day to compose something decent. And that’s just the draft. I still have to proofread and/or rewrite parts of the article a couple of times or more. Sometimes, I let it sit for a few days when I feel like I wasn’t able to express my thoughts correctly. Sometimes, I rewrite a big portion of the draft that the final article becomes a totally different piece.

If I write the way and the pace that I do now, publishing a post daily will just remain a dream. What to do?

Because a problem defined is a problem half-solved, let’s identify the weak points in my writing process.

I haven’t find my voice and my style yet. I feel this is so important because this is the creative part of the process and the two things that can define me as a writer blogger. Or a blogger writer, whatever.

I need to write fast. Which I think can be solved by writing short posts with lots of pictures instead. But that’s not the kind of content I want to fill this blog with. I want to be able to share my view and thoughts in a voice that is distinctly me and write something that is pleasant to read.

I need to have coherent thoughts and solid subjects/topics. This has always been my problem. I think of a good topic and start to write. But I usually get carried away and include too many thoughts, too many points that just muddle the intended subject and fragments the whole article.

I have to improve my vocabulary. I always have Dictionary.com opened in another tab because I’m often lost for the right words to use. In my head, I know what I want to say, but I don’t know what word to use to convey it. While this is not really not bad, having a rich vocabulary will help speed up the writing process.

I still have to polish my grammar. Because correct grammar is essential.

I’m bad at closing. Often, I don’t know how to conclude an article. A bad ending can make a good thing look bad.

And that’s where I’m going to leave this at because I don’t know how to end this post. I told you I’m bad at closing. But really, like in this post, I’m just laying out the problem here and my intentions to find solutions for them. Hopefully, something comes up soon.